6
University Daily Kansan
City/Area
Wednesday, August 20, 1986
Laughter is main course at Apple Valley Farm
OSKALOOSA — Sixty acres of family entertainment are all that remains of a large farm homestead dating from the 1800s.
A barn that is now a theater sits on part of the former homestead. Inside the theater are about 160 people fanning themselves and chatting about coming events.
They may be talking about one of many events that Ric Averill has been doing for 15 years.
Apple Valley Farm in Longview Park, on the east side of Lake Perry, draws people each week to watch performances in the barn theater. Also on the 60 acres are a general store, a restaurant and saloon and camping grounds.
"We don't take ourselves too seriously," Averill, the theater's owner and producer, said. "That is what makes the show enjoyable and different every time."
Averill and his wife, Jeanne, write
and produce all of the plays performed at Apple Valley Farm. The Ric Averill Players perform only two different plays a year, one on Friday nights and the other on Saturday nights.
Spectators are not often seated by the theater owner, who just happens to be dressed in a devil's costume.
The setting is relaxed. Wooden folding chairs are placed throughout the barn floor. Pieces of paper with numbers on them are taped to tables to help folks find their seats.
The curtain rises. The audience quiet. The show begins.
Over the actors' voices are mumbled words and the sounds of scooting chairs. The barn is packed full of eager spectators, donned in casual blue jeans and shorts.
The audeience settles back to enjoy the next couple of hours. During the show, Averill asks for the person who has traveled the farthest to speak up. A free beer is passed the person's way.
Beer and cola are the only things cold in the barn. No air conditioners cool the place, but complaints about the heat are not heard. The audience is more concerned with who is about to knock over its drinks.
A drunkard is walking clumsily through the audience, spilling drinks and sitting on women's laps.
Averill calls him up to the stage. The cast is missing one actor, and this man will be perfect.
"But, Ric," protests Kelly, the script girl, played by Kelly Christiansen, Lawrence senior.
No buts about it. Burt, a drunk,
played by John Newbold, Lawrence
resident, has just joined the Ric
Averill Players in "The Rise and Fall
of Jennifer Goodman."
And this is almost how the players are selected.
Many of the performers are friends of Averill's who have said they would like to be in the show. Some have auditioned. Averill said that he has asked KU students to join his cast
after he has seen them perform.
Auditioning is as casual as the play.
Now that the cast is complete, the play must continue. "From the beginning," Averill says. The curtain falls and the show begins — again.
The lighting is not perfect. During the first couple of minutes of the show Averill reaches down and changes the position of the light. He turns to the audience and says, "Thank you for coming to our dress rehearsal. We don't get the lines right either."
Ad libbing is what the show is all about. The script is there to provide a beginning base, Averill said, but the actors are free to add their own lines when the situation fits.
A light flashes from one corner of the audience.
"Pictures!" Averill shouts.
And right in the middle of their lines, everyone stops, runs to the corner of the stage and poses. The audience is in hysterics.
The performers on-stage antics are
what keeps the show lively, Averill said. The audience is part of the show throughout.
The barn theater is an informal setting that allows the audience to shout words of encouragement and occasional "boos" to the devilish acts of the players. Averill and his wife woke about their life at home when the lines in the play allow.
When Averill and his cast are trying to be serious and an audience member begins to laugh. Averill waits. The cast glances at the laughing spectator and taps its feet. The spectator just seems to laugh more, but Averill still waits. Unless, of course, one of the cast begins to laugh.
"If you want to laugh, you can buy a ticket and sit out there." Averill says to Jennifer Goodman, played by Susanna Pitzer, Lawrence resident, when she can't keep a straight face.
"I look at things in an interesting light." Averill said.
Averill has never had a hard time coming up with ideas for plays, and most of the ideas come from movies.
On Saturday nights the Ric Averill Players present "The Wild Duck Boy."
"It's about somebody raised by animals." Averill said In this case the animals are wild ducks. "The duck boy is a cross between Indiana Jones and the Elephant Man," he said. Averill plays the wild duck boy in the show.
Intermission is part of the entertainment, too. Waitresses during the show become actresses. They march onto the stage singing about peanuts and beer. Then they march off the stage to sing, while sitting on men's laps, about how the men should buy their wives peanuts and beer.
The play keeps the audience laughing for more than two hours. Then comes the vaudeville show.
"The numbers that follow the show are musicals and dances," Averill said. It is a takeoff from the old Vaudeville Oleo. "You know what
Jennifer Goodman (Susanna Pitzer), the heroine of the play, sings to her pianist boyfriend, Bob Redford (Jay Emmer)
Lucinda (Jeeanne Averill), tempts a member of the audience with her evil ways. Audience participation plays a large part in the plays at the barn theater.
oleo is don't you? It's a substitute for butter.
Story by Dana Spoor Photos by Wilfredo Lee
Averill has been performing at Apple Valley Farm for 15 years. He bought the theater business in 1973. Tickets are $6 a person, and reservations are suggested. The shows play every year from June until the last weekend in September.
"A lot of people come back to see the old show with the new cast," he said. Each year one new show is added. The show that played on Friday nights the year before is moved to Saturday night and a new show is produced Friday. But, the cast will be different and the ad-libbing will never be the same.
"Pictures!" The cast of "The Rise and Fall of Jennifer Goodman" stop in the middle of the play to mug for the camera.
DISCOUNTS TO 50% for KU Students, Faculty, and Employees
NOR
The PC8 has the highest level of AT-compatibility. This system includes an 8Mhz 80286 processor, one 1.2 Mb disk drive and a 20Mb hard disk, an advanced keyboard, 512K RAM, parallel and serial ports, a clock, 8 expansion slots, RAM Disk, DOS software.
PC8
With EGA monitor (640x350 res.) $3894
$3894
With EGA monitor (640x350 res.)
With standard color monitor (640x200 res.) ... $3554
With high resolution monochrome monitor ... $3309
Including one 360K drive ADD: ... $ 175
Including 40/60Mb tape backup ADD: ... $1295
NCR Corporation has been awarded a contract to supply the State of Kansas with microcomputer equipment. Discount prices are being offered to all college and university students and faculty and to all State employees. This special purchase program will apply to the full NCR microcomputer product line and related accessories. All computers are discounted at least $36% with a 50% savings on the PC41. ONLY students, faculty and State employees qualify for these prices.
No. PC4i has 2-360K drives, a special high resolution graphics monochrome monitor (640X400), an expanded keyboard, 256K with 640K main board capacity, parallel and serial ports, 8 expansion slots, RAM Disk, DOS, PC-Tutor and PAL software.
NCR PC4i
LIST PRICE $2615
LIST PRICE $2615
DISCOUNT PRICE $1299
Same as above with color monitor...$1699
Same as above with mono and 10Mb...$1699
Same as above with color and 10Mb...$1999
NCR PC6
The PC6 provides speed and flexibility with a switchable 4.77 or 8Mhz clock, 2-360K drives (with room for two more drives), high resolution monochrome monitor and adaptor, an expanded keyboard, 256K with 404K main board capacity, parallel and serial ports, 8 expansion slots, RAM Disk, DOS, PC-Tutor and PAL software.
LIST PRICE $2740
DISCOUNT PRICE $1859
Same as above with color monitor...$2104
Same as above with mono and 20Mb...$2259
Same as above with color and 20Mb...$2504
Including 10Mb internal tape backup ADD...$ 500
Computer Outlet is a division of Forsight Solutions, Inc
Your computer connection at 843-PLUG 804 New Hampshire